I have my starter apart. What should I use to clean it? Meaning the body inside and out. Also cleaning the shaft inside that is metal, the brushes, and springs. Should I soak all this? Or maybe just certain parts of it. If so, with what?
If the commutator is not clean and shiny, use fine sandpaper-100-200 grit then blow off well. NO EMERY! Emery is conductive and if not fully cleaned will short the commutator segments. Re-lubricate the sintered bronze bushings with lower unit oil, a drop or two or as much as they will absorb only. Too much will work into the motor and cause problems.
If the commutator is not clean and shiny, use fine sandpaper-100-200 grit then blow off well. NO EMERY! Emery is conductive and if not fully cleaned will short the commutator segments. Re-lubricate the sintered bronze bushings with lower unit oil, a drop or two or as much as they will absorb only. Too much will work into the motor and cause problems.
Frank, what exactly is the commuter and the sintered bronze bushing? I am thinking that the commuter is the area that is rubbed, on the housing,by the shaft as it spins and the bushing is the square piece at the end of the springs that rub against the lower part of shaft. Is this correct? Will not do anything till I hear from you.
The commutator is the brass/copper segmented ring at one end of the rotor, Noah. The black (carbon) blocks that rub on it are the brushes.
After you have polished the commutator with sandpaper (use a strip and wrap it halfway around and pull it back and forth) take something narrow (I use the end of a broken hacksaw blade) and clean out the tiny channels between the segments of the commutator.
The sintered bronze bushing is the part that the end of the rotor rotates in. Soak it in fine machine oil for a little while.
Not sure what the sintered bronze bushing is. Is it the piece that the very end of the shaft goes thru. It looks like some sort of washer, shaped like a hat, or is it the end plate?
It is the tophat shaped piece that the end of the shaft goes through, Noah.
It is made by pressing bronze particles together with enough heat to make them bond to each other but not melt (sintering). That leaves air space in the resulting "sponge" to hold oil to lubricate the shaft.
Sorry I missed this post this morning. I was not myself and distracted by other matters.
Please stay with this thread. If you open another on this topic it will be deleted.
